Coastal protection structures will often be designed to withstandwave attack by the extreme design storm

Distribution Panel

component of an electricity supply system that divides an electrical power feed into subsidiary circuits, while providing a protective fuse or circuit breaker for each circuit in a common enclosure

Dome

a rounded vault forming the roof of a building or structure, typically with a circular base

Drainage

action or process of draining something

Drainage system

patterns formed by streams, rivers, and lakes in a drainage basin,a system by which water is drained on or in the soil to enhance production.

Ducts

channel or tube for conveying something, in particular

Duration

the time during which something continues

Easement

right to cross or otherwise use someone else's land for a specified purpose.

Egress

action of going out of or leaving a place

Elevation

height above a given level, especially sea level

Emphasis

special importance, value, or prominence given to something

Equilibrium

state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced

Facade

the face of a building, especially the principal front that looks onto a street or open space

Fascia

wooden board or other flat piece of material such as that covering the ends of rafters

Fenestration

arrangement of windows and doors on the elevations of a building

Field Notes

notes recorded by scientists or researchers in the course of field research, during or after their observation of a specific phenomenon they are studying

Finish Grade

Finished grade means the final elevation and contour of the ground after cutting or filling and conforming to the proposed design

Floor joists

any of the small timbers or metal beams ranged parallel from wall to wall in a structure to support a floor

Floor plan

scale diagram of the arrangement of rooms in one story of a building

Footing

basis on which something is established or operates

Foundation

the lowest load-bearing part of a building, typically below ground level

Gantt chart

type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule

Geodetic servey

land survey with corrections made to account for the curvature of the earth's surface

Girder

large iron or steel beam or compound structure used for building bridges and the framework of large buildings.

Header

a wooden beam, as in flooring, placed between two long beams with the ends of short beams resting against it

Heat loss

measure of the total transfer of heat through the fabric of a building from inside to the outside, either from conduction, convection, radiation, or any combination of the these.

Impervious

not allowing fluid to pass through

Ingress

the action or fact of going in or entering

Insulation

the action of insulating something or someone

Internal Force

produced from the external forces acting on structure members such as poled, beamd or columnd

Keystone

a central stone at the summit of an arch, locking the whole together

Kip

unit of force that equals 1000 pounds-force

Land surveying

determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them

Lateral load

live loads whose main component is a horizontal force acting on the structure

Lintel

structural horizontal block that spans the space or opening between two vertical supports

Live load

The weight of people or goods in a building or vehicle

Load bearing

supporting much of the weight of the overlying parts of a building or other structure,relating to the carrying of a load

Load path

technique of mechanical and structural engineering used to determine the path of maximum stress in a non-uniform load-bearing member in response to an applied load

Masonry

stonework

Metes and bounds

a boundary or boundary stone.

Moment

turning effect produced by a force acting at a distance on an object

Municipality

city or town that has corporate status and local government

Nominal strength

capacity of a structure or component to resist the effects of loads, as determined by computations using specified material strengths

Non load bearing wall

wall serves as a partition or to mark a boundary( such as a half wall). They do not support floor or roof loads above

Nonpotable water

Water that is not of drinking quality, but may still be used for many other purposes, depending on its quality

Occupancy Group

How residents of living area are grouped together

Pitched roof

numerical measure of the steepness of a roof

Plane Survey

surveying of areas of limited size, making no corrections for the earth's curvature

Plastic limit

basic measure of the critical water contents of a fine-grained soil: its shrinkage limit, plastic limit, and liquid limit

Plat

a plot of land

Plumbing Fixture

exchangeable device which can be connected to a plumbing system to deliver and drain water.

Ponding

hold back or dam up flowing water or another liquid to form a small lake

Post and lintel construction

building system where strong horizontal elements are held up by strong vertical elements with large spaces between them

Precast Concrete

a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and lifted into place

Pressure head

the internal energy of a fluid due to the pressure exerted on its container

Prevailing Winds

a wind from the direction that is predominant at a particular place or season

Principal meridian

any of the true geographical meridians established by authority of the surveyor general of the U.S. that serves as the meridian of reference for subdividing public lands in a given region

Property survey

procedure that defines a parcel of land using distances and angles

Radiant Heat

technology for heating indoor and outdoor areas. Heating by radiant energy is observed every day, the warmth of the sunshine being the most commonly observed example

Rafter

one of several internal beams extending from the eaves to the peak of a roof and constituting its framework

Rainfall intensity

defined as the ratio of the total amount of rain falling during a given period to the duration of the period It is expressed in depth units per unit time, usually as mm per hour

Rebar

steel reinforcing rod in concrete

Reinforced Concrete

concrete in which wire mesh or steel bars are embedded to increase its tensile strength

Riser

vertical section between the treads of a staircase

Runoff coefficient

dimensionless coefficient relating the amount of runoff to the amount of precipitation received

R-value

the capacity of an insulating material to resist heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power

Safety Factor

the ratio of a material's strength to an expected strain

Sanitary sewer

underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings through pipes to treatment facilities or disposal

Section View

View of an object that is cut in a portion

Seismic load

concepts of earthquake engineering which means application of an earthquake-generated agitation to a structure

Setback

plain, flat offset in a wall.

Shear diagram

analytical tools used in conjunction with structural analysis to help perform structural design by determining the value of shear force and bending moment at a given point of a structural element such as a beam

Shear force

unaligned forces pushing one part of a body in one specific direction, and another part of the body in the opposite direction

Sheathing

protective casing or covering

Sill

a shelf or slab of stone, wood, or metal at the foot of a window or doorway

Simple beam

a structural element that primarily resists loads applied laterally to the beam's axis

Slab on grade

concrete slab that is to serve as the foundation for the structure is formed from a mold set into the ground

Soil pipe

sewage or waste water pipe

Solar orientation

positioning of a building in relation to seasonal variations in the sun's path as well as prevailing wind patterns

Sole plate

bottom horizontal member of a wall or building to which vertical members are attached

Span

the full extent of something from end to end; the amount of space that something covers

Specifications

an act of describing or identifying something precisely or of stating a precise requirement

Spread footing

wider bottom portion than the load-bearing foundation walls it supports

Square

a "square" is 100 square feet

Stack

pile of objects, typically one that is neatly arranged

Stadia

sports arena with tiers of seats for spectators

Stakeholder

person with an interest or concern in something, especially a business

Static head

internal energy of a fluid due to the pressure exerted on its container

Storm duration

How long a storm lasts or is expected to last

Storm water wetlands

stormwater wetlands are stormwater wetland systems that maximize the removal of pollutants from stormwater runoff through wetland vegetation uptake, retention and settling

Strain

force tending to pull or stretch something to an extreme or damaging degree

Stress

pressure or tension exerted on a material object

Structural Efficiency

a single number that compares the MASS of a structure with the LOAD it supports

Structural Engineer

which structural engineers are educated to create the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man made structures

Stud

an upright support in the wall of a building to which sheathing, drywall, etc., are attached

Subfloor

the foundation for a floor in a building

Sustainability

process of maintaining change in a balanced fashion, in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations

Tensile Strength

resistance of a material to breaking under tension

Thermal Convection

heat transfer due to bulk movement of molecules within fluids such as gases and liquids, including molten rock

Top plate

horizontal, structural, load-bearing member in wooden building framing

Topography Survey

survey that gathers data about the elevation of points on a piece of land and presents them as contour lines on a plot

Transmission Load

transference of motive force or power

Tributary Area

loaded area that contributes to the load on the member supporting that area

Tributary width

width of the area which contributes to the member's load

Truss

a framework, typically consisting of rafters, posts, and struts, supporting a roof, bridge, or other structure

U-Factor

The rate of heat loss

Underlayment

a layer between a subfloor and a finished floor that facilitates leveling and adhesion

Valve

device for controlling the passage of fluid or air through a pipe, duct, etc., especially an automatic device allowing movement in one direction only

Variance

the fact or quality of being different, divergent, or inconsistent

Vernacular architecture

architectural style that is designed based on local needs, availability of construction materials and reflecting local traditions

Visibility analysis

How much visibility there is an a certain amount of space

Voussoir

wedge-shaped or tapered stone used to construct an arch

Water closet

a room containing a flush toilet

Wind load

the force on a structure arising from the impact of wind on it

Yield stress

the value of stress at a yield point or at the yield strength

Zoning ordinance

written regulation and law that defines how property in specific geographic zones can be used